I'll Stand By You
by nevermindthebuttocks
Summary: Jean Grey wants Rogue out of her life, so when an opportunity arrives she seizes it. but what secrets do Rogue's past hide?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing. All characters belong to Marvel. I got the idea for this after watching an episode of Veronica Mars, which is the best T.V. show to ever exist, hands down. The amazing Rob Thomas owns anything related to Veronica Mars.

Rating: T I guess. There's really nothing too bad here, but if anyone thinks I should change the rating let me know.

AN: I am totally new at this. This is not the 1st story I've written, but it is the first I've posted. I want to be a writer one day so any feedback you can give is greatly appreciated. Constructive criticism is the best kind, so please read and review. Ok, here goes.

This is pretty much AU, as you will see.

Text is normal storyline, _text_ is flashbacks.

Jean Grey looked on as the oldest group of kids in the mansion played outside. Bobby and Peter were engaged in what looked to be a heated game of basketball. Kitty Pryde and the mansion's resident firecracker, Jubilee were sitting in lounge chairs by the pool wearing bikinis giggling madly and reading what could only be a girly magazine, those kinds with articles like "How to make him want you in 7 easy steps". Several of the younger students were in the pool playing games amongst themselves. Storm, she assumed, was in the gardens tending to her flowers or meditating. Everyone seemed to have an activity to do or a friend to chat with. Except one.

A lone girl sat under a tree on the edge of the mansion's grounds. She was wearing almost all black and was covered from head to toe despite the high temperature. From where she was sitting she could see all the other kids outside. She looked at them all touching, wearing their summer clothes, and having their carefree fun in the heat of the summer. Jealous, she tore her eyes away from the scene in front of her and let her gaze drift to the gloved hands clasped together in her lap. Rogue hated those gloves. As she sat there under the tree her mind began to wander to where it usually did. Logan. She wondered where he was, what he was doing, if he was safe. But most of all, she wondered if he was coming back. It had been almost a year since he stood in the doorway and handed her his dogtags and promised her he would come back for them. She still wore them around her neck, as a reminder of what he did for her. The fact that seeing her wearing them seemed to royally piss off Jean was just an added bonus. Pissing off Jean Grey had become one of Rogue's favorite pastimes. Rogue knew that despite Jean's insisting that she was in love with Scott, she also secretly lusted after the gruff man known as the Wolverine.

_"Rogue, I promise, he's fine. He healed up just fine the first time you absorbed him. This time will be no different."_

"_But-"_

"_No! No buts. He is going to be fine, but to heal he needs rest, something he wont be getting if you're down here hovering over him. Now go get some dinner and get acquainted with the other students. As soon as he is fully healed I promise you will be the first person notified."_

_Rogue had no choice but to accept the woman's orders so she grudgingly hopped off the stool next to the hospital bed where Logan, the man who had risked his life to save _her_ of all people just hours before, was covered in tubes and bandages. She walked slowly through the med bay doors and down the hallway, marveling at the contents of the mansion's lower-levels._

_Rogue sat straight up in bed with a strangled gasp. Logan's nightmares were unpleasant to say the least. At least she hadn't screamed out in her sleep or anything. The last thing she wanted was more people at this school looking at her like she was a freak, or worse, with pity. She didn't want their freaking pity. She slumped back down in bed and looked around at her new room. After the 'incident' with Logan that first night the professor had decided that in her case it would be safer for the other students if she had her own room. Rogue didn't much care either way. She wasn't sure if she would've gotten along too well with the other girls anyway. That Kitty Pryde girl was too peppy, wearing girly clothes and gossiping with the others about anything under the sun._

_After trying to get to sleep for what seemed like hours, Rogue looked at the clock on the nightstand. The red numbers read 6:09 AM. Heaving a sigh, she hauled herself to her feet and began to get ready for the day. Classes would start in one hour anyway, there was no use trying to sleep now. After making sure all her skin was covered, she looked in the mirror one last time. It was going to take some time to get used to her new two-toned hair. _

_Rogue turned to go into the kitchen but stopped when she heard two voices. She recognized one of them as the boy who had introduced himself to her in class. Buddy or Billy or something like that. He'd been giving her The Look ever since she got here. Rogue knew what that look meant. She wanted to make friends, she really did, but it was too soon after the whole fiasco with David to get into any kind of relationship, so avoidance was her best option. Rogue turned down the next hallway and saw the elevator that would take her to the lower-levels where the med bay was located. She smiled. If she couldn't go eat breakfast right now she might as well check up on Logan. She got in and rode down the floors in silence, or what would've been silence if she didn't have two grown men and a teenage boy present in her psyche as well. Logan was the loudest, whether that was because she'd absorbed him twice or because he'd held on longest she didn't know, but the constant craving for cigars and beer was enough to drive her crazy and the heightened senses, although useful at times, weren't something she really wanted to keep. It was bad enough living in a mansion with teenage boys who don't feel the need to shower daily, but with Logan's keen sense of smell it was worse. She figured his powers would slowly fade from her as he gained them back so that by the time he was fully healed they would be gone from her. _

_Rogue was about to turn into the med bay when once again she stopped when she heard voices. _

"_That was a brave thing you did."_

"_Did it work?"_

_Rogue rolled her eyes. Of course Dr. Grey would be right there when he awoke. Honestly, did the woman never sleep? _

"_I think she's a little taken with you."_

"_My heart belongs to someone else."_

Rogue turned away fuming. She had smelt the excitement and lust rolling off of Jean in waves at that statement. She knew Logan was attracted to the redheaded doctor, but she had never imagined that Jean would return the feelings. One man wasn't enough, she has to go and encourage Logan too? 

Jean felt a twinge of annoyance as she watched Rogue toy with the chain around her neck. She didn't know why Logan had given her the stupid thing; it wasn't as if they were friends or had even known each other for long. And he certainly wasn't attracted to her. There was nothing really special about Rogue at all, come to think of it. She was just a moody, grumpy teenager who refused to socialize with the other kids. Heck, she even put the other kids in danger by being here with that poison skin of hers and then acted like it was the biggest burden in the world to have to cover up. The more Jean thought about it, the angrier she became and after a while she came to a realization. She wanted Rogue gone.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: sorry this took so long to get out, I had the whole thing written and then decided it was stupid so I deleted it and started over again. I'm much happier with the way this one turned out. I have a _basic_ plan for this story (no idea how to end it, or if I should put a pairing in here), but minor plot points escape me, so if anyone wants to suggest something to put in here, I'll definitely consider it. For this chapter…I don't own the songs, those belong to The Used and Hedley. And the idea that started the whole fic came from Veronica Mars. I own nothing. Please don't sue; you'd only get about $4 in change and a vanilla chapstick.

Rogue sighed and watched through her bedroom window as the kids from the mansion played an intense game of capture the flag. Scott Summers was supervising the game, trying, and failing, to keep the kids from using their powers to cheat. She hadn't been invited to join. _What good would I be in the game anyway? I'd probably end up touching someone on accident. It's better this way._ Still, she wistfully looked on as Kitty Pryde phased herself under ground and back up again to capture Bobby's team's flag. A power like that would've been ok. Heck, even being able to freeze things like Bobby could, or cover her body in armor like Piotr would've been better that being the untouchable girl. Feeling that she had seen enough, Rogue turned away from the window and went over to her bed. Reaching under her mattress she found her notebook, then she turned on her stereo and sat back against the headboard as the strains of The Used's Poetic Tragedy began to play.

_The cup is not half empty as pessimists say._

_As far as he sees, nothings left in the cup._

_A whole cup full of nothing for him to indulge,_

_Since the voice of ambition has long since been shut up._

She flipped open the notebook and tried to find an empty page. As she turned the pages, things she had written in flew by; some poems, a few song lyrics, pictures. Pictures of scenery, pictures cut from magazines and glued in, drawings of people she didn't know; the book was nearly full of her work. One picture in particular caught her eye and she looked over it, half a face was cut out of a magazine, the other half had been drawn in. The young woman in the picture had her eyes closed and mouth opened in a silent scream. Rogue brushed away the memories that that particular page brought along and continued to flip through the book. She stopped as she found a blank space in her book, grabbing the closest pen and tried to put the emotions in her heart onto paper…

_Believe me, it's easy_

_To scream when you're dreaming_

_And wonder what's under _

_Your bed when you're sleeping_

_They beat you and blame you_

_For all that you went through,_

_But hey its just another saturday._

_It's only just another saturday. _

* * *

Jean Grey rubbed her tired eyes, trying to concentrate on the essays in front of her and not the children laughing outside the mansion. Why did she have to teach English? Why couldn't she have taught art or something? She pulled yet another essay out of the stack and was about to plunge into yet another paper chock full of punctuation mistakes, bad grammar, horrible spelling, and atrocious metaphors, but was saved when she felt the professor's presence in her mind. _Jean, would you mind coming to my office? There is something all the teachers need to discuss._ After assuring the professor she would, Jean restacked the essays and put them away in her drawer, locking it. The last thing she needed was for John and Jubilee to steal the tests to try to change their scores again.

* * *

Scott Summers couldn't believe what he was hearing. A possibility of the school being shut down?

"But, professor, what about the students?!" he exclaimed.

"The students are precisely _why_ the school could be shut down, Scott. It appears that the government isn't too pleased with our attempts to assist the children in developing their gifts. Hank tipped me off this morning on his weekly phone call. I don't want any of you to worry about this, just keep teaching your classes as normal. I just thought I should let you know" The professor always seemed so calm, even in the most urgent of situations. Usually it was a comfort to Scott, but now it worried him.

"Don't worry? How can we not be worried? The government is planning on shutting down the school, how can you be so calm, professor?" Ororo finally chimed in after sitting quietly during the meeting.

"Please, let me finish," the professor folded his hands across the desk in front of him and surveyed the x-men before him, "the government can only shut us down if they discover any kind of illegal activity going on in the mansion. They will be doing checks, of course, but I plan to make sure that everything we do is legal. That means that all medical records on the children need to be current and accurate, the dorm rooms need to be up to code with the fire policy, and the students will need to be tested to make sure that they are achieving acceptable marks in their classes. We also need to make sure that their parents or guardians have signed all the children's files. We can do this ,x-men, if we work together."

Rogue lay in her room later that night. The news the professor had told the teachers had been top secret, so obviously everyone had found out pretty quickly. After a few kids had freaked out about it, Ororo and Scott had calmed everyone down and told them that everything would be fine. They asked that all the students be on their best behavior during the next few weeks when the government officials would be stopping by for inspections, which basically meant no powers unless it was an emergency. John seemed to have a hard time with those orders. Rogue smiled to herself as she remembered the scandalized look on his face. As she turned off the lights and got into bed, she wondered if the school would actually be shut down. She figured if she'd survived on the road for eight months last time with no money, she could do it again. She really had nothing to stay for; no friends, no family, nothing really, but the more she thought about it the more she came to realize that she didn't want to leave. Somehow without her noticing it, the mansion had become her home.

Elsewhere in the mansion, Jean Grey was pondering over the things the professor had said. It would be easy enough to update the medical files, and to fire-proof the rooms, if it came down to it they could just take away John's lighter for a while, but something was nagging at the back of her mind. Giving up on trying to figure it out, Jean dressed for bed and snuggled up to Scott, who was already snoring softly. She was halfway between sleep and awake when the answer came to her and her eyes shot open so fast it hurt. Housing a runaway was most definitely illegal, and while most of the children had run when their powers emerged, the professor had contacted their parents and convinced them to relinquish custody to him so all was on the up and up. In most cases it wasn't too hard at all, since many parents didn't want mutants for children and the children were just happy to have a safe, loving environment to be themselves. Others, like Kitty Pryde's parents, sent their kids to the school to get help with their powers. In fact, there was only one student in the entire mansion that they didn't have custody of or permission for. They didn't even know her name.

AN: well, there it is in all its glory. Let me know if you think it sucks. Thank you to my reviewers, you guys made me happy. Please read and review!!

IMPORTANT: Well my favorite show, and inspiration behind this story, is cancelled!! I'm so sad! But if you want a cookie, do me a favor and watch the series finale of Veronica Mars on Tuesday, May 22 on the CW. It's a two-hour finale, so it starts when Gilmore girls is normally on (8/7 c). The reason I ask that you watch is 1, that its an amazing show and you'll thank me and 2, I occasionally will put a shout out in a story or a quote from something, so if I do, you'll get it. Just watch, you'll see how good it is. Let me know if you watched and liked it!!


	3. Chapter 3

AN: Well, here it is. I wrote it all in one sitting. Literally. My butt hurts real bad. I don't own X-men or the quote from Veronica Mars. Neither do I own toaster strudel, red bull, licorice, or Kool-Aid. Glad I got that off my chest.

Jean woke up that morning happier than she had been in quite a while. All she had to do was notify the professor about Rogue's little runaway situation and she would be history. Rogue would never be allowed to stay at the mansion under the circumstances unless her parents relinquished custody or gave consent for their daughter to be schooled at the institute, both situations which they would need to know her name for. She had already refused, quite a few times actually, to give the professor or anyone her real name. "What does it matter?" she'd question every time she was asked, "I'm not that girl anymore. I'm Rogue now. Just Rogue." She'd add stubbornly. And the professor, for whatever reason, would let it be.

Of course when, _if_, Logan came back, Rogue's absence might be a problem, but she would just have to explain to the wolverine that by not giving them her name, Rogue had selfishly put the entire school at risk of being shut down. Surely he'd come around to reason. Besides, with her in the room he wouldn't really be thinking about Rogue anyway, he might not even notice she was gone at first. Smiling at her own brilliance, Jean got up out of bed convinced that this was going to be the best day ever. It wasn't until she stepped out of the shower and wiped the fog off the mirror that she noticed that anything was wrong.

* * *

Rogue was in the kitchen, her head buried in the freezer, trying in vain to locate one last toaster strudel when she heard the scream. Head still hidden in the freezer, she felt the corners of her mouth twitch up, giving way to a full-fledged grin. _Ok, so sometimes powers come in handy. Like when you wake up in the middle of the night completely bored and unable to fall asleep._ It had been an accident that she bumped into Kitty Pryde in the hallway for a split second, but it seemed that the short contact was enough to retain Kitty's power for a while. Taking a deep breath and schooling her features, Rogue shut the freezer door and turned around just in time to see a livid Jean Grey storm into the kitchen, hair wet and dripping down her back and clad only in a short-sleeved robe that came to her knees. The entire kitchen, with the exception of Scott, had frozen, gaping when she burst through the doors. She was breathing hard, nostrils flaring, looking around at all the faces. Scott looked up from his morning paper and nearly spit out his coffee.

"Um, Jean…?" was all he managed to get out. Jean's skin, what was visible anyway, was stained a very noticeable green. At least, he thought it was green; it was hard to tell with his glasses.

"I want to know," Jean started, her voice low and menacing, "who exactly decided this would be a fun trick, and I want to know now!" If she though that she would get a confession from anyone, she was mistaken. No one in the room uttered a single word.

"Which one of you did this?!" Jean screamed, stomping her green foot. At their continued silence, she let out a scream of frustration and fled the kitchen, the door banging shut behind her. Scott heaved a sigh and went to comfort his woman.

* * *

"Not that bad?" she screeched, Scott winced. "How is this not that bad, Scott? My skin is green, thanks to those little hooligans! And the first government inspection is tomorrow, what will they think?" Scott decided that now might not be the best time to remind her that the government would probably just assume it was part of her mutation.

"Jean, sweetheart, they're just kids. They were just having some fun. They didn't mean to hurt you." The consoling fiancé role was not really working at the moment, probably because of his half-hearted attempt. He decided to leave her to her own devices for a while, let her cool off on her own. He went into his and Jean's bathroom and looked in the shower. Sure enough, the tile was stained the same color as Jean's skin. Unscrewing the showerhead, he found what had once been a powdery substance before it got wet. He rinsed it out in the sink until all traces of green were gone and dried it off with a paper towel. When he went to throw the towel in the trashcan, he noticed something in there. Reaching down, he fished out the items and came up with five empty packets of lemon-lime flavored Kool-Aid.

* * *

Rogue was walking down the hall towards her bedroom when she heard someone running towards her. A hand grabbed her arm and spun her around.

"Hey, Rogue…" greeted a slightly out of breath John, "you're really good at Math, aren't you? Cause I was kind of wondering if maybe you could help me with a project."

Rogue had acquaintances at the institute. Not anywhere near friends, but more than just people she went to school with. None of them had ever sought her out, which meant that either John _really_ needed help with math and had come to her because she was great at it, or he was really desperate and had already asked everyone else.

"I need to present a project on probabilistic number theory, the perfect squares, primes, and square factors. You could do this in your sleep." He clarified.

"And the catch?" Rogue queried.

"It's due first thing tomorrow morning." John didn't look the least bit uneasy about his extreme procrastination. Rogue sighed. She wanted to make friends here, and it wasn't like she really had anything better to do.

"I'll need Red Bull and licorice." John smiled.

"Deal." They shook on it and headed to the rec room to do some serious studying.

On his way to the kitchen to dispose of the Kool-Aid packets so Jean wouldn't see them, he passed the rec room and saw Rogue studying with Pyro. He smiled, glad that she was finally socializing, and watched them for a moment, the forgotten Kool-Aid packets still clenched in his hand. After a few moments Rogue looked up as if she felt his eyes on her, and blushed guiltily when he held the empty packets in the air and raised his eyebrows. She wasn't entirely sure because of his glasses, but if his eyebrow movement was anything to go by, she was pretty sure he had winked as he waved those packets around with a small smile twitching at the corners of his lips.

Jean had stayed in her room all day, alternating between sulking about her skin and unsuccessfully trying to scrub the green off. Scott had left earlier with something in his hand and hadn't returned since, which was just as well considering she could sense his amusement at the situation. This had been the worst day of her life; the only silver lining on her cloud was that tomorrow was the first inspection, the day she would turn Rogue in as a runaway.

AN: Ok, I know nothing about math at all. So if you do and John's project makes no sense and you want me to change it or something, let me know what to put there. I also don't know if Kool-Aid will stain your skin _that_ much…I _do_ know that if you have a friend with really light hair, red Kool-Aid will definitely stain his hair! Thanks so much to all my reviewers. You guys rock my socks! Also, I have no idea if I'm going to write a pairing or not, but if you want one, let me know. Lastly, to any Veronica Mars fans…the Kool-Aid thing was part plot device, part shout out to the episode that inspired me to write this. Can you guess which one?

AND…. _don't forget to watch the series finale of Veronica Mars tonight, Tuesday May 22 at 8/7 c. I will give a cookie to anyone who watches the last ever episode of the greatest TV show ever made. I will also throw out a quote or favorite moment to those who watch. Even if you haven't seen it, I think you'd like it so go ahead and watch it. Go. Now. What are you waiting for? _


	4. Chapter 4

It was the morning of the first inspection and the mansion was nearly bursting with nervous energy. All the posters in the bedrooms and classrooms alike had been moved eighteen inches down from the ceiling, in line with the fire policy. Every last student and all faculty had gone through a complete physical and been tested for allergies. All student files, permission slips, and emergency cards had been updated and filed away. And all of John's lighters had mysteriously disappeared.

With just three hours left until the government officials arrived, a slightly less green Jean Grey was walking to the professor's office. As she stopped outside her office door his voice called out to her. _Come in, Jean_. She remembered to put up a barrier in her mind, so he would not see her true intentions, and opened the door.

"Good morning, Jean." The professor spoke softly, with a small smile. "I trust everything is going according to plan?"

"Actually, professor," Jean began, "that's what I wanted to talk to you about. I didn't realize until just now, and it's so obvious I don't know what I was thinking."

"What is it, Jean? Have we forgotten something?"

"Its Rogue, professor. We don't have her real name. Without it, we can't get the school's custody of her and we can't notify her parents. The government inspectors will be here in a few hours and unless we have a file on her we will be charged with housing a runaway." Jean managed to put just the right amount of worry into her tone. She was smirking on the inside. Just then Scott came through the door, smiling, but stopped when he noticed the grim look on the professor's face.

"Professor, Jean? Is something wrong?" he was beginning to worry.

"Yes, Scott. It seems that in all our hurry we have forgotten about one of our students." At Scott's confused look the professor continued, "Rogue has refused to give us her real name. We have no files on her. She is a runaway and a minor. Unless we can get those files started immediately, Rogue will have to leave the mansion." Scott was shocked.

"So lets do it. Lets start those files." He said determinedly.

"I'm afraid it's not that simple, Scott," the professor began, "We need Rogue's true name to even begin the forms. For whatever reasons, she has chosen to keep that part of her life to herself. Unless she chooses to tell us, we cannot force her to give up the information."

"So call her down here and ask her." Scott could not understand how this was a problem. Surely, Rogue would be willing to tell them her real name in an emergency like this.

* * *

Rogue and John were just finishing up his project. They both sat on the couch, empty Red Bull cans littering the floor around them. John had just finished running over the project for what had to be the eighth time that morning.

"That's it, you've got it." Rogue smiled.

"Hey thanks, Rogue, I never would have understood this junk without you. So…care to join me for breakfast?" John sounded truly grateful, and Rogue would've actually considered taking him up on his offer if right then the professor hadn't interrupted her thoughts. _Rogue, could you come to my office please? _

"Sorry, John, the professor's calling me." She replied, pointing to her head. John didn't seem fazed.

"Alright, but you owe me a rain check, then. See you later, and thanks again for all your help. I'll clean this mess up." She smiled and turned in the direction of the professor's office.

* * *

"You wanted to see me, professor?" Rogue walked into the room and was surprised to see Jean standing behind the professor and Scott leaning against the window.

"Yes, Rogue, sit down please." The professor said gently. She sat, nervously her hand went to Logan's tags and Jean scowled briefly.

"Rogue, as you know it has come to our attention that the government is doing inspections on the school. Among the enforced rules will be obeying the fire policy--"

"I already moved all the posters in my room, professor. And that Dr. McTaggart lady that was here yesterday tested me for all kinds of stuff right after breakfast." Rogue cut him off, wondering what this was about.

"Yes, Rogue, I know about all that, but the reason I have called you here today is that the government is also going to be checking each students personal files. You see, all the students here have a file on them containing personal information such as their names, parents, history, emergency contacts, and permission for them to be taught at this institution. I'm afraid that we do not have such a file on you, my dear. To give you one we would need to know your name." Rogue visibly paled at the information. Her name? She had only trusted one other person with her name. The mansion was her home, but would she really have to give up her name, her biggest secret, to be allowed to stay? Tears began to form in her eyes, but she pushed them back. She would not cry, she wouldn't. She felt a weight on her shoulder and looked up to see Scott, his hand on her shoulder, offering her what comfort he could. Could she do it? Could she just trade in her name, who she was, to stay in the mansion?

"I'm sorry, professor. I can't." her breath hitched and she looked down, ashamed. Scott's hand grasped her shoulder tighter. She knew what would happen next.

"I understand, my dear, but I am afraid we cannot allow you to stay unless we have a file on you. The government would charge us with housing a runaway and the school would be shut down. I wish I could let you stay, but I must do what is best for the other children, and that is to keep the school open." For the first time since Scott had known him, Charles Xavier looked his age.

* * *

Rogue trudged back and forth from the closet to her bed, packing her duffel with her few belongings. Tears were streaming down her face now, in the privacy of her dorm room. When she finished packing she sat on the bed, holding the dogtags, wondering where she would go now. The professor told her he would pay for her train ticket to wherever she wanted to go, and would make sure her meals were paid for and that she had a place to sleep at night. No more hitchhiking your way around and starving again, he'd said. She figured maybe she'd head north; maybe she'd get lucky and run into Logan again. _If he even remembers me_. Sighing, she wiped away all traces of her tears, picked up her duffel, and took one last look around the room she had lived in for the last year.

When she came to the bottom of the stairs, the professor and Scott were there waiting.

"Ah guess this is goodbah, then." Rogue said, her accent becoming thicker with emotion. "Thank yah for everything, proffesah. So much." He reached out his hand and she grasped it tightly in her gloved one, shaking it.

"It is an honor to know you, my dear. Take care of yourself." He pulled out a credit card and pushed it into her hand, cutting her off before she could protest. "Spend as much as you need. Be safe, child." She couldn't form the words, just nodded and grasped his hand again. She turned to Scott, who would be driving her to the train station. He picked up her bag and held the door open for her.

The ride to the train station was quiet. Rogue stared back at the mansion, trying to memorize the image of the place that had become home, before the car turned a corner and it was out of sight. When they pulled up outside, Scott was around her side and opening her door before she even got her seatbelt off. They stood at the entrance, facing each other for a while before one of them spoke. Scott placed both his hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eye.

"If you need _anything_, you call, ok?" He asked and she nodded. She didn't know what made her do it, but one minute she was standing there with his hands on her shoulders and the next she was hugging him fiercely, her hands around his middle, her face against his chest. He seemed shocked at first, but then his arms were around her, hugging back just as tight. They stood there for a long time, just holding each other, holding back tears. He drew in a shallow breath as they parted and pushed back her hair from her eyes. "You got everything you need?" she nodded again and they walked to the ticket counter.

Her train was about to leave. He pressed a list of the mansion's numbers into her hand along with some cash and silenced her with a look when she tried to protest. She boarded the train, shivering as she remembered her last experience on one. Choosing a window seat, Rogue watched out the window as Scott waved at her until the train was out of sight. She leaned back against the seat and prepared herself for the long trip ahead of her.

The drive back to the mansion was quiet; the silence that now filled his car was almost deafening. He wasn't quite ready to go back to the mansion, so he stopped at a convenience story along the way and picked up some things. It wouldn't look good to the officials if they were out of food, would it? Absently, he grabbed a cart and filled it with all the necessary items; milk, eggs, bread, peanut butter, jelly, cookies, vegetables, fruits, and cereal.

As he parked his car in the garage, he looked at the time and noted that all the kids would be in class right now. His first class of the day was autoshop, which thankfully wasn't until later. Scott unloaded all the grocery bags from his trunk and brought them into the empty kitchen. There was still an hour before the inspection would start. Opening the fridge, he put in the groceries. He walked around for a while, trying to find something to keep him busy, but found there was nothing to do. Jean was teaching her English class, a bright smile on her face, the professor and Ororo, he assumed, were teaching as well. The mansion was spotless; even John's room had been cleaned. Sighing, Scott grabbed his mail from the front table and went back to the kitchen. Opening the fridge and looking around, he opened the carton of milk and took a couple swigs right from the carton. He went to put the carton on the counter when something on it caught his eye and he spit milk everywhere. There was a missing person pictured on the back of the milk carton, and that missing person was Rogue.

AN: Well, I'm really hoping that this chapter was good, because it wrote itself. I just started typing and this came out. I'm going to give you people a choice if you want a pairing here so let me know if you want one. I'm leaning towards a Scott/Rogue friendship, but I'd be glad to hear your opinions.

Reviews make me write faster. Click that button, you know you want to.


	5. Chapter 5

Scot stared at the back of the milk carton for what seemed like hours. Distantly, a clock chimed and the sound of running feet could be heard. He knew that Jean and the professor would be meeting to wait for the government officials to arrive. He grabbed the milk carton and ran down the hallway to the professor's office.

"Marie D'Ancanto" he said breathlessly as he burst through the door. Jean and the professor looked up in shock.

"Scott? Are you feeling ok?" Jean seemed worried about his strange behavior.

"Rogue. Her name. It's Marie D'Ancanto." He clarified, panting. Jean was speechless. The professor looked surprised.

"She told you this, Scott?" Scott shook his head, no. At the professor's confusion, he set the milk carton on the desk, the picture facing him.

"That's Rogue, isn't it, professor?" Charles Xavier was stunned. It _did_ bear a certain resemblance to the girl he had just sent away. The hair was different; the familiar white streaks were noticeably absent in the picture. The girl was wearing a tank top, also different from the Rogue he knew. But when Charles Xavier looked into the eyes of the girl in the picture, he recognized them. The girl's eyes held the same guarded look that Rogue's did, despite the smile on her face. He would know those eyes anywhere.

"My goodness, it is her." The professor was shocked. He had sent the girl away and not an hour later had found her name. This Marie D'Ancanto was their Rogue, he was sure of it. Jean grabbed the carton and turned it towards herself. Surprise etched into her features. It _was_ Rogue. She looked over the picture, noticing the differences between this girl and the girl she had known, she read the caption under the photo

_Marie D'Ancanto_

_Age: 16 years_

_5 ft. 5 in. 116 lbs. Brown hair, Brown eyes. _

_Last seen leaving Meridian Medical Center_

_If know the whereabouts of Marie D'Ancanto or have any information as to where _

_She might be, please contact the missing persons hotline at…_

"We know her name, now, professor. We can start those files." Scott couldn't believe their good fortune. Rogue could come back home! Jean started. Oh, no! All her planning was not going to go down the drain now. What was with Scott always fawning over Rogue anyway?

_The mission had been a success…for the most part anyway. Everyone was alive at least. Storm was piloting the jet home with Scott acting co-pilot while she was tending to Logan's injuries. Rogue had really done a number on him. This was the third time in just as many days that she had found Logan unconscious. Two of those times it was Rogue's fault, she wasn't sure about the first time. Speaking of Rogue, the girl was whimpering softly, holding herself, in the back of the jet. She refused to come any closer to Logan. Jean rolled her eyes, annoyed at the girl's antics. Was she so busy feeling sorry for herself that she couldn't see that this was her fault? If she hadn't been so stupid to run away this never would've happened. She had put all of them in danger tonight. She was still trying to stop the bleeding from Logan's chest wounds where he had stabbed himself to get free. She hadn't realized that Scott had gotten up out of his chair until he was next to her, and she smiled that he was coming to check up on her, even though Logan wasn't awake to hit on her. She'd never admit it, but she loved how it felt, having two men vying for her affections. She was stunned, then, when she didn't feel Scott hug her from behind or place his hand on her back, and she looked around. Anger coursed through Jean as she realized Scott had walked right past her to the back of the jet where Rogue was and sat down next to the shaking girl. She watched as he tentatively put his hand out on the girl's shoulder, Rogue flinched but did not pull away and he drew her into a protective embrace, carefully avoiding her skin and stroking her hair, all the while whispering soothing words to the girl. _

"_Ah'm so sorry, Mistah Summahs. Ah didn't mean fo all o' this ta happen." The girl quietly sobbed, shoulders trembling. Jean wanted to give the girl a piece of her mind at that moment, tell her how stupid she had been, how Logan might not survive because of her, but Scott replied first. _

"_Rogue, this is not your fault at all. No one blames you for this, you understand? Everything is going to be all right, now. I promise." _

_Jean didn't know why his words made her so angry. She wanted to smack the girl for her actions, grab her by the shoulders and shake some sense into her, and Scott was telling her it wasn't her fault? That no one blamed her? Jean inwardly seethed the entire way home. She looked up when they arrived to find that Rogue had fallen asleep on Scott's shoulder and he was still running his fingers through her hair, interestedly examining the new white streaks. While Rogue had been examined, Scott stayed with her, holding her hand and when she fell asleep again at the examining table, he picked her up and carried her to her own room. When she woke up screaming in the middle of the night Scott was right there to hold her while she cried about her nightmares._

"I don't think that's the best idea, Scott." Jean commented, thinking quickly. "Clearly, someone is looking for her. Her family is probably very worried. I think that we should call this number and tell them where she is, they deserve to know." Scott was stunned at her proposal, but the professor seemed to consider her words.

"You know, Jean, you may be right." He replied thoughtfully. "Don't worry about this, I will take care of it." Just then, the doorbell rang loudly, echoing through the mansion. Jean and the professor both went to answer the door and greet the government officials who would be performing the inspection. Scott turned in the opposite direction, heading to the garage to prepare for his autoshop class.

Rogue sat on the train, still looking out the window. She missed the mansion already. She had decided to head north, somewhere cold enough that she wouldn't look so out of place with her skin so covered up. Maybe this time around she'd make it to Anchorage. Or maybe she'd even run into Logan. She smiled at that thought, imagining the look on his face if he saw her walking around one of those bars he liked so much. Suddenly, a weight dropped onto the seat next to her, breaking her from her thoughts. She spun quickly, surprised. Seated next to her was a young man, probably a few years older than her. He had shaggy auburn hair that fell into his sunglasses covered eyes. He hadn't shaved in a few days and he was wearing a rather worn-looking brown trenchcoat. He noticed her gaze and smirked at her, he was obviously one of those types that thought he was gods gift to women. She rolled her eyes and turned back to the window. It was going to be a long ride.

AN: wow, so many reviews! Thank you all, so much. Made me happy, they did. I intended for this chapter to be longer, but it wasn't coming to me.

Keep up those reviews, people.


	6. Chapter 6

Rogue stretched her aching muscles and sighed, grateful to be off the train. Grateful, also, to be away from the strange man who had sat next to her, twirling a playing card in his hand constantly and looking at her from beneath his sunglasses. She was currently somewhere in Canada, she wasn't quite sure where. She planned to see where her travels took her, do the whole touristy thing for a while, minus the hitchhiking and going for days without food and being leered at by dirty truck drivers old enough to be her father. She had found a cheap hotel, not shabby, but not in great condition. She knew the professor was loaded, but she felt bad spending his money on expensive hotels and restaurants. She planned to be thrifty with his credit card, and she intended to pay back every cent once she was able. She owed him a lot more than that. Sighing heavily, Rogue looked around her hotel room and decided to take a shower before going to sleep. She would go exploring tomorrow.

Scott woke up to a pain in his lower back and a crick in his neck. Groaning he rolled over. And let out a yelp as he fell off the couch. Sitting up, he looked around confusedly for a moment before the events of last night came back to him. He and Jean had fought. He couldn't for the life of him understand why Jean would want to send Rogue back to her parents. She was a mutant; she belonged here, at Xavier's. Jean had insisted that it was the right thing to do, that her parents had been looking everywhere for her, and that Rogue had been undoubtedly selfish by running away. Her parents were probably worried sick about her, Jean had argued. Scott had tried to make her see reason, but she refused to listen to him. He had eventually thrown his hands up in frustration, grabbed his pillow and a blanket off the bed and left. Which led him to the situation he was in now, on the floor in his office, his hair a mess and a body sore from sleeping on the couch. He ran a hand through his hair, smoothing it as best he could and left the office. He needed a shower. He only hoped he didn't run into Jean along the way.

* * *

Rogue had been traveling for two weeks now, slowly making her way towards Anchorage. She wasn't sure what she'd find when she got there, or what she'd do afterwards; for now she was taking it one day at a time. She missed the institute, the constant hustle and bustle of things. There was never a dull moment. Though life on the road hadn't been unpleasant these last couple weeks, she wanted to go home. She wanted to be awakened early Saturday mornings by the Jamie and Rahne fighting over which cartoons to watch, wanted to play pranks on Jean, she even wanted to eat Kitty's cooking if it meant she'd be home again. The diner she was in wasn't the cleanest, but it served breakfast all day, so it was a winner in her book. She toyed with the straw in her glass as she looked out the window into the night, wondering what was going on with Scott and the others and how the inspection was going. She grinned at the thought of John without his lighters for so long. She looked up, surprised when for a brief moment, she thought she saw two glowing red orbs floating outside in the darkness, but then the waitress came with her pancakes and when she looked back out the window, everything appeared normal.

Scott groaned as he rode the elevator to the lower-levels. Today was the day the oldest students started their training. They had been measured months ago for their uniforms. He had unpacked the uniforms himself, each individual to it's owner. One was built to withstand extreme cold, another extreme heat, one phased with its owner, and one he had carefully set aside, a familiar tightening in his chest. The elevator came to a stop and he got out, walking past the med-lab on his way to the Danger Room where his trainees were waiting. He glanced inside the lab, looking away when Jean tried to catch his eye. Though he went back to their bedroom after that first night on the couch, they were still fighting about Rogue. Jean refused to see reason.

"Alright, you three, are you ready for your first training session?" Scott asked as they came out of the locker rooms, each in their custom made uniforms. He noticed John was walking funny.

"Summers, dude, these suits are like a cheap motel. No ballroom." Scott resisted the urge to bang his head against the wall. What had he gotten himself into?

* * *

Rogue looked around at the small town again. She was seated on a bench outside the bus station, waiting for the next ride out of town. Although traveling was nice, she longed for her own bed, for a home-cooked meal, for home. She grabbed the tags around her neck and played with them, wondering if she would ever see them again. Would Logan come back to the mansion looking for her? Would he care that she was gone? She was pulled out of her musings when the bus pulled up; she gathered her belongings and stood up. A woman snootily pushed in front of her as she was about to board, causing Rogue to stumble back. She was saved from an embarrassing fall when a strong hand grabbed her around the arm and pulled her upright. She looked up to thank the person and was struck by the familiarity of the man's face.

"Y'alright?" She couldn't place him. He looked so familiar, but she was sure she didn't know this man.

"I'm fine, thanks." She smiled at him as he led her back to the bus entrance.

"After y', _Chere_." He grinned at her, gesturing in front of him. She blushed and went up the steps with the strangely familiar man following right behind.

AN: ok, so I think that the last chapter must've been crap, cause it got like two reviews. I know this one is short, but I hope you guys like it better. Also, a couple of chapters back I promised a shout out to all those who watched the Veronica Mars finale…it's in this chapter, if you can find it!! Apparently, the only reviewer who watched was **Golden23**, so the shout out is for you!

I'm not really sure if I'm going to keep Remy in this story or just have him be a passing character, he seems to make his way into all my stories somehow. Let me know what you think I should do about him.

Reviews are my crack! They make me write faster. Push the button. Do it.


	7. Chapter 7

Jean Grey watched through the window in the garage door as Scott poked around under the hood of one of the mansion's many automobiles. He still wasn't talking to her. He had come back to their room, but he would not budge on his opinion's of Rogue. Thinking of the two-toned mutant, Jean rolled her eyes. She vaguely wondered where Scott's precious little Rogue was…probably off causing trouble and ruining someone else's life, she decided. Looking back inside the window at Scott, another memory came back to her

_It had been a tough week for the mansion's newest resident; she wasn't taking Logan's swift departure very well at all. The professor, Ororo, and Jean had been in a meeting for the last hour, discussing what to do for the girl. Well, the professor and Ororo had…Jean had been picturing vividly in her mind the exact contours of the feral man's chest. She looked up, surprised, as Storm stood. Well, that meeting flew by! Without the slightest clue what they had decided, or even if they had reached a conclusion, Jean skipped off to find the other man in her life. No doubt he would be in the garage, working on a car. She was prepared to burst right through the door, but stopped suddenly when she saw not only Scott in the garage, but the subject of the meeting that had wasted so much of her precious time! She peered jealously through the window in the garage door at the two of them. Rogue was hanging back, as if nervous to be too close to Scott or the car. Eventually, though, Scott managed to get her to inch forward, until they were working side by side. Jean watched as Rogue brushed a still gloved hand, now covered in grease, past her bangs, getting a small smudge on her cheek in the process, before passing Scott a wrench. Scott looked up at her as she handed it to him and smiled, noticing the smudge. He took out his handkerchief and gingerly wiped it away, avoiding skin contact. He said something to Rogue and they both grinned and turned back to the car. _

Jean shook away the memory, took a deep breath, and pushed open the door. Music was blaring through the whole room, the bass making the floor beneath her feet pulsate with the rhythm of the song. Scott didn't look up from his spot underneath the hood, so she went to him, an idea forming in her head. She reached out her hands to his broad shoulders, massaging them as her lips found the base of his neck. It did not have the desired effect. He jumped when he felt her hands and lips on him, hitting his head on the hood of the car, and cursing loudly. One hand rubbing his head, he turned around and gave her a quizzical look.

"I thought you might need some help out here, baby." She winked at him. Scott wondered if he had hit his head harder than he thought.

"You…want to work on the car? With me? It's dirty under there, you know. You'll probably get grease all over your hands." Jean swallowed back the urge to decline, and nodded.

"I thought we could spend some time together. It'll be fun, right?" Scott wasn't sure what had gotten into her, but he scooted over and let her stand next to him. He pointed out all the parts to her, describing what each does. Jean pretended to pay attention.

"Ok, so do you want to take off the oil cap now?" She looked where he pointed, and grabbed the cap, twisting it in her hand until it came off. She handed it to him and as he turned to grab something, she smeared the grease from her fingers onto her nose and forehead, rubbing it in furiously. Scott turned back around with a bottle of something and glanced at her. He did a double take.

"Umm. You've uh...you've got grease all over you, Jean. Maybe you should go inside and clean up? This really isn't your kind of thing." He said the whole thing while staring at her face in confusion. Jean felt a surge of embarrassment go through her and stormed away from the garage in a hurry.

* * *

Rogue sat in yet another dimly lit motel room, watching I Love Lucy re-runs. Her mind wandered back to the handsome stranger who had helped her out at the bus stop. He had stayed on the bus after she had gotten off at the most recent stop. His name was Remy, she'd learned, but that was about all. He hadn't been the most talkative person, but she found herself missing his company. Life on the road was not all it was cracked up to be, but she had found that out a year ago. She didn't know exactly what she was planning on doing. It wasn't as if she could just spend her life wandering from one place to the next, but she had no idea where to go or what to do with herself once she got there. She was in Canada now, in a small sleepy town that had no other claim to fame, apparently, than being the closest town to someplace called Alkali Lake. It didn't sound like much to her. Sighing, she turned her attention back to the tv and eventually dropped off to sleep.

* * *

Charles Xavier sat in his office. Getting the information on Marie D'Ancanto was taking a lot longer than he had planned. He hadn't realized there was so much red tape to go through to find out information about someone's past, especially when that someone is a minor and a runaway. The world's most powerful telepath he may be, but he was no computer wiz and he refused to use his power just to speed up the process. No, he would just have to wait for the information to come back to him. It had been almost a month; he would be getting it any day now. Maybe then they would be able to sort out this madness.

AN: I am so so so so so so so so so so sorry to all of my loyal reviewers for not updating this. I went through a rut recently. There was a guy who was a friend...and then the guy decided to randomly cut all contact with me for no reason at all. Ugh, men! If anyone knows of a decent, cute, single man let me know, because I'm starting to believe he doesn't exist. I realize that this chapter is crap, but I wanted to get back into the swing of writing and this is what came out onto the paper.

I will try my hardest to continue updating. Thank you thank you thank you for all the lovely reviews I am still getting. Please forgive me for not updating as often as I should. Please read and review...let me know if I've made any mistakes or anything. Thanks, I love you all!


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